Terminal housing for gaseous-discharge lamps



July 23, 1940- R. MARONE 2,208,832

TERMINAL HOUSING FR GASEOUS DISCHARGE LAMPS I Filed March 17', 1958 INVENTOR Efe/MED Maleo/v5.

Y BY

or other insulating material and is provided with Patented July 23, l940 UNITED STATES PATENT orrica TERIWINAL HOUSING FOR GASEOUS- I l DISCHARGE LAMPS Application March 17,

3 Claims.

The invention relates to terminal housings for gaseous-discharge lamps of the long tube reargas type.

Lamps of this type are employed for many purposes and in widely varying conditions of form, dimensions, arrangementand location, and terminal housings now in use are usually made of lacquered sheet metal and are not ordinarily carried in stock but are made to order to meet 'the special requirements of each particular installation. This entails delay and high costs.

The object of the present invention is to provide a terminal housing having standardized features which enable a relatively small number of designs to meet the requirements of all installations. It will be apparent that a standardized housing may be manufactured -in large-quantities at low cost, carried in stock, and supplied to customers without delay.

Furtherobjects attained by certain features of the invention hereinafter referred to are to improve the safety and efficiency of such housings in use and to facilitate installations and replacements. A

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a double-socket housingembodying the invention, associated with a pair of lamp tubes.

Fig. 2 is a vertical-section of the same.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the same without the tubes.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a single-socket housing.

Referring to Figs. 1-3, l designates generally the housing block of one embodiment of the invention. It is preferably composed of ceramic means for attaching it to a supporting structure, such as the base or flange 2 which is perforated for screws 3. A pair of sockets 4 extend through the housingfrom top to bottom, being open at the top to receive lamp tubes 5 and at the bottom to allow for lead-in connections. u l The web 5 between the sockets has a bore 1 in alinement with holes 8 whereby a connector istrip s of conductive material` may be inserted when it is desired to connect the tubes 5 in series. In this case suitable contactsv 'are provided, for example as shown, springs l0 which provide contact seats for the terminals il of the tubes and are secured to strip 9 by means of bolts l2.

In some installations the tubes will not be connected directly with one another but to the power circuit, or rather, to the secondary termi-A iaas. senat No. raam (ci. 24a-50) nals of a transformer. In this case the strip 9 will be omitted or withdrawn and connection will be made to the leads it. To protect the support-v ing structure to which the housing may be attached, sleeves IS of ceramic or other insulating 5 material are provided, which will be made in lengths sumcient to pass through walls, floors, or other partitions to which the housing may be attached.

As will be seen, the sockets 6 are tapered downl@ wardly and this taper may, as shown in Fig. 2, be increased at the bottom of the sockets to provide supporting seats for the correspondingly tapered upper ends of the sleeves i4. The tapering of the sockets throughout facilitates assembling the sleeves M, which must be inserted at the top of the housing.

Adjustable means are provided for supporting the fragile tubes in xed spaced relation to the housing. In the example shown, the supporting means cbmprises two or more ribs l5 which are preferably integral with the housing and have a vertically undercut cross-sectional shape, such as the almost circular section shown, so that split sleeves i6, or the like, may be telescopically engaged with the ribs with a clamping but slidable fit. In the upper projecting ends of the sleeves i6 are inserted bracket members il having channeled seats i8 to receive the lamp tubes and lugs l@ which provide points of anchorage for wires 2B which hold the tubes securely in place.

It will be seen that the tube supports may be telescopically adjusted and this is an important feature `because it avoids the necessity of accurately determining in advance the spacing of the tubes from the housing.

'I'he double socket' shown in Figs. 1-3, is adapted for use in various types of installations, for example a double tube border f or a shop window or the like may be supported by two of the double socket housings. One of the housings in this instance will lack connector strip 9 and will be provided with sleeves M as heretofore described, the connection being made to a transformer located below the door, counter or other support inthe rear of the window. The other double socket will be :provided with the connector strip 9 (Figs. 2 and 3) and theV sleeves i4 will be omitted, the housing in thisA instance serving as a support and connector for the two tubes. The double socket may also be employed for connecting a plurality of tube sections in single tube series.

The single socket housing shown in Fig. 4

is used only where a single-lamp terminal is present. Hence, no provision is made for connector' strip I. Instead, a round hole 24 is provided to receive one end of conductor conduit or pipe 2l. A support 28 for the pipe has flanges 21 which are perforated for screws at 2l. Ribs II are provided on every side oi' the housing so that the adjustable tube support described with .reference to Figs. 1-3 may be made available no matter from which quarter the tube approaches the housing. The single-socket housing will also preferably be open at the bottom so that a sleeve Il (Figs. l and 2) may be inserted when it is faces.

It will be apparent that the two types of housing herein described with their accessories, will provide adequate terminal housing facilities for every one of the numerous and various kinds of gaseous-discharge lamp installations.

I claim:

l. A terminal housing for gaseous-discharge lamps comprising a block of insulating material having a socket. and a tube support mounted on said block, said tube support comprising a vertically undercut rib on the exterior of the block parallel to-said socket and a spring member telescopically engaging said rib.

2. A terminal housing for gaseous-discharge lamps comprising a block of insulating material having a socket, and a tube support mounted on said blockand comprising a vertically undercut rib on the exterior of the block parallel to said socket and a split sleeve telescopically engaging said rib- 3. A terminal housing for gaseous-discharge lamps comprising a block of insulating material having a socket, and a tube support mounted on said block, said support comprising a vertically under-cut rib on the exterior of said block parallel to said socket, a split sleeve telescopically engaging said rib, and a bracket member having a. stem in telescopic engagement with said sleeve and having a seat for a lamp tube.

RICHARD MARONE. 

